The present invention, Tradescantia ‘Tough Love’, relates to a new and distinct interspecific hybrid of Tradescantia, hereinafter referred to by its cultivar name, ‘Tough Love’. ‘Tough Love’ represents a new hybrid spiderwort, a herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor at Chicago Botanic Garden in Chicago, Ill., USA. ‘Tough Love’ arose from a cross made in May of 2009 between an unnamed open pollinated seedling of Tradescantia tharpii as the female parent and an unnamed plant of Tradescantia occidentalis as the male parent. ‘Tough Love’ was selected as a single unique plant in June of 2009 from amongst the seedlings derived from the above cross.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the Inventor by division of dormant rootstock in Glencoe, Ill. in April of 2010. Asexual propagation by division of dormant rootstock has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.